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Categories: Computer Science: Encryption, Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published Small isolated wetlands are pollution-catching powerhouses
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Small isolated wetlands that are full for only part of the year are often the first to be removed for development or agriculture, but a new study shows that they can be twice as effective in protecting downstream lake or river ecosystems than if they were connected to them.
Published Wildfires are increasingly burning California's snowy landscapes and colliding with winter droughts to shrink California's snowpack
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A research team examined what happens to mountain snowpacks when sunny, midwinter dry spells occur in forests impacted by severe wildfire.
Published Engineers examine drinking water management strategies
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While residents in California are still dealing with damage from last month's floods -- after years of devastating droughts -- engineers are looking at better ways to manage the delivery of safe drinking water to homes. Things to consider include a changing climate, costs and sustainability.
Published Chess players face a tough foe: Air pollution
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Chess players perform worse when air pollution increases, according to new research.
Published Passive radiative cooling can now be controlled electrically
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Energy-efficient ways of cooling buildings and vehicles will be required in a changing climate. Researchers have now shown that electrical tuning of passive radiative cooling can be used to control temperatures of a material at ambient temperatures and air pressure.
Published Soil tainted by air pollution expels carbon
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New research suggests nitrogen released by gas-powered machines causes dry soil to let go of carbon and release it back into the atmosphere, where it can contribute to climate change.
Published 1. 5-degree goal not plausible: Social change more important than physical tipping points
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Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is currently not plausible, as is shown in a new, central study. Climate policy, protests, and the Ukraine crisis: the participating researchers systematically assessed to what extent social changes are already underway -- while also analyzing certain physical processes frequently discussed as tipping points. Their conclusion: social change is essential to meeting the temperature goals set in Paris. But what has been achieved to date is insufficient.
Published China's stricter clean heating policies may have saved thousands of lives
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China's stricter clean heating policies have improved air quality in northern China, particularly in Beijing and surrounding cities -- potentially reducing 23,000 premature deaths due to air pollution in 2021 than in 2015, a new study reveals.
Published Over 4% of summer mortality in European cities is attributable to urban heat islands
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Over four percent of deaths in cities during the summer months are due to urban heat islands, and one third of these deaths could be prevented by reaching a tree cover of 30%, according to a modelling study. The study results, obtained with data from 93 European cities, highlight the substantial benefits of planting more trees in cities to attenuate the impact of climate change.
Published Thin, lightweight layer provides radiation barrier for perovskites in space, protection from elements on Earth
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An ultrathin protective coating proves sufficient to protect a perovskite solar cell from the harmful effects of space and harden it against environmental factors on Earth, according to newly published research.
Published Aquatic organisms respond to flooding and drought disturbance in different ways
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Populations of various species of aquatic insects and other invertebrates respond to flooding and waterway drying due to drought in different ways that can be anticipated, according to a new study that employed a novel method to assess the stability of stream ecosystems.
Published Biorefinery uses microbial fuel cell to upcycle resistant plant waste
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Researchers have developed a sustainable, inexpensive two-step process that can upcycle organic carbon waste -- including lignin, a difficult-to-breakdown material that gives plants their structure. By processing waste through a microbe-driven biorefinery, the researchers turned lignin into carbon sources that could be used in high-value, plant-derived pharmaceuticals and antioxidant nutraceuticals as well as carbon-based nanoparticles for drug or chemical delivery.
Published Understanding plants can boost wildland-fire modeling in uncertain future
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A new conceptual framework for incorporating the way plants use carbon and water, or plant dynamics, into fine-scale computer models of wildland fire provides a critical first step toward improved global fire forecasting.
Published Short-term bang of fireworks has long-term impact on wildlife
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Popular fireworks should be replaced with cleaner drone and laser light shows to avoid the 'highly damaging' impact on wildlife, domestic pets and the broader environment, new research has found.
Published Monitoring an 'anti-greenhouse' gas: Dimethyl sulfide in Arctic air
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Data stored in ice cores dating back 55 years bring new insight into atmospheric levels of a molecule that can significantly affect weather and climate.
Published New insights on why improvements to Chesapeake Bay remain a challenge
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A new look at the history of water quality in the Chesapeake Bay sheds light on how the estuary has responded to nutrient reduction efforts and why improvements have remained a major challenge. Environmental science researchers looked at the Bay's historic response to efforts to reduce nutrients to minimize dead zones -- areas with too little oxygen to support marine life -- and found there is a pollution threshold after which it takes twice the effort to make a change.
Published Want a stronger biodegradable plastic? Add a 'pinch' of cream of tartar
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Original source 
Cooking a delicious risotto and making plastics are actually very similar processes. In both, ingredients come together and are heated to create a product, but current recipes for synthesizing bioplastics often fall flat, producing flimsy materials. So, taking a hint from chefs, researchers now report on a way to 'season' biodegradable plastics to make them stronger. It just takes a 'pinch' of cream of tartar (tartaric acid) or citric acid.
Published Ancestral variation guides future environmental adaptations
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The speed of environmental change is very challenging for wild organisms. When exposed to a new environment individual plants and animals can potentially adjust their biology to better cope with new pressures they are exposed to -- this is known as phenotypic plasticity. New research shows that early plasticity can influence the ability to subsequently evolve genetic adaptations to conquer new habitats.
Published Discovery advances biofuel crop that could curb dependence on fossil fuel
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Researchers have solved a puzzle that could help switchgrass realize its full potential as a low-cost, sustainable biofuel crop and curb our dependence on fossil fuels.
Published Rapid plant evolution may make coastal regions more susceptible to flooding and sea level rise, study shows
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Evolution has occurred more rapidly than previously thought in the Chesapeake Bay wetlands, which may decrease the chance that coastal marshes can withstand future sea level rise, researchers at the University of Notre Dame and collaborators demonstrated in a recent publication in Science.